NLL Insider

Ho hum. Just another weekend in the National Lacrosse League, eh? Hardly. The playoffs technically don’t start this weekend, but don’t tell that to the five teams battling for the final two playoff spots. In the East, Philly’s at Rochester and the loser goes home. Simple as that. Out West, Edmonton, Colorado and Minnesota are battling for the final spot. The short story: Colorado controls its own destiny, while Minny and Edmonton need some help to get in. That said, it’s time to take a look at the final weekend of the regular season.

Edmonton (5-10) at Colorado (6-9), Friday at 9 p.m. (EST)

The Mammoth enter this big game with the wrong kind of momentum. Losers of four straight, the last two in overtime, Colorado needs to catch a break. And yeah, this is a home game for the Mammoth, but Edmonton’s only road win this season came in Colorado back on Jan. 24. “It does boost the confidence,” says Rush coach Bob Hamley. “It’s a different time of year, but that’s one thing we can take from that game. This league is just so close and we’ve got to cut down on mistakes.”

If there’s one pronounced advantage for Colorado, it’s the power play. At 38 percent, the Rush bring the league’s worst kill unit. The Mammoth are 7-of-21 in their last three games on the power play, but turned in a 6-for-8 performance against Philly back on March 28. At 47.2 percent, the Mammoth rank No. 5 in power play goals scored, so if the Mammoth can grease the wheels of that machine and get some looks for the uppers, it could make life a bit more enjoyable in the Mile-High city. Coach Bob McMahon cited his team’s constant juggling lineup as a major hurdle and it’s tough to argue. “You’d like to have your best players available, but we haven’t been able to,” he says. “I don’t question our work ethic, we’ve been in position to win games.”

And McMahon definitely echoes the sentiment of Hamley, who talks about how “tight” the league is. Give the Mammoth two more goals and they not only their last two games, but they’re talking about a No. 2 seed and home playoff game in the West division instead of talking about their playoff lives.

Playoff scenario: Colorado wins and its in. Edmonton needs to beat Colorodo and get a New York win over Minnesota to clinch a playoff berth.

Calgary (11-4) at Portland (9-6), Friday at 10:30 p.m. (EST)

Playoff scenarios are set for both these squads. They’ll each host a playoff game, and Calgary announced it’ll host the No. 4 seed on Sunday, May 3, at 5 p.m. (EST). Neither team wants to rest too much, though, and the LumberJax certainly roll into this game with some momentum. It’ll be the squad’s seventh game in four weeks and coach Derek Keenan likes the effect it’s had. Three straight wins include a pair of road wins last weekend, and that’ll help as they welcome the Roughies to town. “Our goal was to limit mistakes and I think we did that,” Keenan says. “We want to stay sharp, though, and finish as high as we can.”

Calgary assistant Dave Pym is expecting the same sort of intensity from his club. “Our belief is to accentuate who we are,” he says, reinforcing the outlook that a game is a game, whether or not a playoff berth is on the line. “We wanna be sharp and execute the fundamentals as best we can.”

San Jose (7-8) at Toronto (5-10), Saturday at 7 p.m. (EST)

The Stealth have won four of their last five and are the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, set to play No. 2 Portland on a day and time to be determined. Toronto’s done officially, and coach Jamie Batley says the club will bring the proverbial “playing for pride” attitude. “Guys have to to play for the front of the jerseys,” he said. “My expectation is that we’ll be working hard as if we were in the playoffs.”

For coach Chris Hall and the Stealth, credit for the team’s hot streak is all over the floor. Tyler Richards has been a wall in goal, Colin Doyle has been the leader he’s known to be, and rookie Rhys Duch has been as advertised. These elements have influenced the entire team aspect in San Jose and it’s quite a turnaround for a team that was just 3-7 not too long ago. “It’s exhilarating, obviously,” says Hall. “Four or five weeks ago, we were wondering if we were going to have much of a season. But we’re playing with a bunch of confidence now.”

Of note here is the return of Doyle to Toronto, where he played eight seasons. Hall says it hasn’t been discussed much, but he’s sure it’s on the mind of Doyle, who is just nine points behind the league’s single-season scoring record of 115 points that currently belongs to John Tavares.

Boston (9-6) at Buffalo (10-5), Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (EST)

Both clubs are playoff-bound and the big thing riding on this game is playoff seeding. The Bandits already have a home game in the first round but can clinch a second home game by winning this one, or with a New York loss to Minnesota. Boston can clinch a home playoff game with a win in this game and a New York loss to Minnesota.

Boston coach Tom Ryan is pleased with the direction of his team, especially the way the defense last week limited Rochester to just five goals by limiting outside shots. The Blazers will have to do that again against at Buffalo team that shoots well from the perimeter. The Blazers also are aware of the work they have to do against an aggressive Buffalo defense. “Darris is the first to admit they work on limiting time and space, and they have a defense that makes you work hard for quality shots.”

Philadelphia (7-8) at Rochester (6-9), Saturday at 7:35 p.m. (EST)

Tiebreakers work out such that the winner of this game clinches a playoff berth. The winner does not. It doesn’t get any more simple than that. And even though the Knighthawks are coming off an 0-2 weekend, coach Paul Gait kind of figured his season would come down to this. The Wings beat Rochester in the season opener, but the Knighthawks didn’t have Pat O’Toole in goal, which could be a huge factor. The other factor is that Philly won in Rochester without Athan Iannucci, but Nooch is back for this game so it’s pretty much two different teams. The Wings have won three of their last four and one of those wins was a road win against the playoff-bound Titans.

Gaits likes the matchups for his squad, but did admit a struggling offense concerns him. “Five goals last week was a major disappointment,” he says.

Of course, there is the history the Gait brothers share from their time as players with the Wings, but there’s little time for reflection, he says. “It makes for a nice family atmosphere off the floor, but both teams will be on the floor to win,” he says.

New York (9-6) at Minnesota (6-9), Saturday at 8 p.m. (EST)

The Titans are in, but they can still clinch the East division. A win over the Swarm and a Boston win over Buffalo will do that. New York can clinch a single home playoff game by beating the Swarm, or with a Buffalo win. For Minnesota to clinch a West playoff berth, it needs to beat New York and get help with a Colorado loss to Edmonton. If Colorado wins on Friday night, then Saturday’s game will mean nothing for the Swarm with regard to the playoffs.

“We’re prepared that Saturday’s game is going to mean something,” says Minnesota coach Duane Jacobs. “If it turns out we’re playing for pride, then we’ll be ready for that, too.” The frustrating part of the season for Jacobs has been the team’s inconsistency. “If there was one weekend where I thought we might turn it around, it was the weekend with Toronto and Buffalo,” he says. The Swarm won both those games back in February, “but we just couldn’t get any sustained momentum from that weekend.”

Ed Comeau points to the play of goalie Matt Vinc, who’s evolution into one of the league’s best goalie has been a pleasure to witness. “He’s still a relatively young goalie but every week he gets more and more confident. He’s done a great job and our defense, even with some injuries back there, the guys we’ve asked to step up have done a great job in front of him.” Comeau’s not buying the idea that Minnesota will roll over against the Titans. The Swarm excel at the pick-and-roll and have great shooters, he says. “We need to play 5-on-5 ball and stay out of penalty trouble,” he says.

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